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Turning the first sod on the Christchurch Adventure Park

3 March 2016

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel turned the first sod in Cashmere Forest today marking the start of construction on the Christchurch Adventure Park.

The ceremony saw local dignitaries and businessmen gather in a small glade nestled in Cashmere Forest at the foot of the Port Hills. Local iwi; Te Hap o Ngti Wheke blessed the site with Mayor Lianne Dalziel turning the first sod in what will become the Adventure Park village.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel is delighted to see construction commence on the Christchurch Adventure Park. “The Park is a fantastic initiative for Canterbury. It will not only highlight Christchurch on the international stage it will also bring a large number of social and economic benefits to the region. It’s going to attract young people to the area, increase visitor nights and create an amazing destination for all tourists and New Zealanders alike“

“The concept of a beautiful bike park just 17 minutes’ cycle from the Central City is the sort that inspires plenty of international visitors and thrill-seekers, and this development will draw a lot of the tourist market who all-too-often skip straight from Auckland to Queenstown for their adventuring," Mayor Dalziel says.

The development is a unique and innovative public-private funded initiative. Seeing the partnership of New Zealand Government, Christchurch City Council, private New Zealand investors and International come together to support this initiative. On behalf of Christchurch City Council, newly formed Development Christchurch Ltd have been engaged throughout playing a crucial role in completing detailed financial due diligence and commercial aspects of the project and have been a key enabler working closely with the project developer Select Evolution.

The Christchurch Adventure Park sits on 358 hectares of forested land known as the Cashmere Forest. Stage One of the development will house more than 100 kilometers of mountain bike routes, 2km of zip lines through the forest, sightseeing, rock climbing a café bar seating up to 180 people as well as a 4 seater high speed chair lift that will be able to transport up to 1200 adventure seekers per hour.

“The concept of a beautiful bike park just 17 minutes’ cycle from the Central City is the sort that inspires plenty of international visitors and thrill-seekers, and this development will draw a lot of the tourist market who all-too-often skip straight from Auckland to Queenstown for their adventuring."

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel

Select Evolution, the mastermind behind the Adventure Park, is pleased to realize many years of hard work. “The idea was originally conceived prior to the earthquakes so it has taken us a lot longer than we anticipated to get to this point. But we are here now and I can’t wait to see the Park start to take shape. The resource consents are all in place. We have the funding behind us and we have built a professional team of local contractors to develop the park. It is all ready to go and today marks a real milestone in this project.“ Select Evolution Chair, Fiona Sutton says.

The Christchurch Adventure Park will include the largest mountain bike park in the Southern Hemisphere and will be the world’s first bike park to operate 365 days a year with a purpose built high-speed chair lift for carrying bikes and people to the top of the mountain.

Mountain Bike enthusiast and Cantabrian Todd Blackadder is a staunch advocate. “Getting out in the great outdoors is what we kiwi’s do. The Park is going to be an amazing place that will cater for families, recreational riders right through to the serious mountain biker. It’s going to be a destination that will enable locals and tourists alike to play all day. And it’s all right here on our back doorstep.“

The team behind the Adventure Park aim to have the first stage of the Park open by December 2016.